HBO’s Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North premiered Tuesday evening, and boy... did the Pittsburgh Steelers shine in their Hard Knocks debut. It wasn’t just the highlights of their Week 13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, either. No, what really made them shine was the vibes. This team, at least from the outside, appears fully bought in.
The root of it all, of course, is HC Mike Tomlin, whose leadership popped off the page immediately. That was the biggest takeaway from the entire episode — the Steelers are locked into every word coming out of Tomlin’s mouth, and it’s not hard to see why.